I’m going to be feeling this tomorrow, but I got what I wanted to do, done – and then some!
I just finished mowing the area of the outer yard that I’d been able to mow previously. I had considered mowing until I finished a tank of gas at first. Since this area had already been done before, even with the constant stopping to empty the bag, that would have meant expanding the area I was able to get done last time. In the end, though, I just filled one last wagon load and stopped. I finished at about 3:30 or so, and we’re at 25C/77F, with the humidex at 28C/82F, and we’re not even at the hottest part of the day, yet.
I spread out only a couple of wagon loads on the black tarp I’ve got over the previous year’s squash patch. The rest, I used right away.
I did the eggplant and hot pepper bed first, because it was closer. These have not been doing well, and I’m hoping the extra layer of mulch, on top of the paper and cardboard mulch, will help. That took most of a wagon load, and what was left went into the compost ring next to the eggplant and peppers bed.
Next I did the bed that needed it the most: the bell peppers and onions in the high raised bed. They are pretty crowded in places, so it was a bit more difficult to keep the mulch away from the stems and bulbs, but I was still able to get a good layer down. There was just enough left in the wagon to mulch the surviving bush beans, which I didn’t bother taking a photo of.
The last wagon load was used to mulch the chocolate cherry tomatoes at the chain link fence. I also added some supports to the tomatoes that didn’t already have cages around them; I only got two cages, as these are dollar store cages and I wanted to test them out before getting more. The Goldy yellow zucchini by the gate got a bit more mulch, too.
There was just enough left in the wagon to lay a deep mulch down at other chain link fence bed, by the vehicle gate. This is where there are just two Purple Caribe potatoes growing, and where I’ve started kohlrabi. Since everything is so sparce at that end, there is a ridiculous amount of weeds. So the two potato plants are now mulched, as is each side of the tiny kohlrabi seedlings, and the empty space in between.
After putting everything away, I also rolled up the mosquito netting still attached to the chain link fence, and just left the rolls fastened at the top of the fence sections.
By then, the heat and humidity was really starting to get to me, and I was more than happy to finally get inside!
Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter, so I want to make use of the clippings I’ve laid out on the black tarp to finish mulching around the San Marzano tomato and onion bed, and then lay more mulch down around the onions, shallots and summer squash. If there’s any left over, I’ll see if I can mulch the rest of the bed with the melons, bush beans and onions going to seed. That will be done early in the morning, before things start getting hot. Depending on how I find the soil, I might do another watering.
Grass clippings are gold!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 